SELKIRK GRIZZLY BEAR HABITAT CONSERVATION INITIATIVE

Where the grizzly can walk, the earth is healthy and whole.
A
P U B L I C AT I O N
O F
T H E
V I TA L
G R O U N D
F O U N D AT I O N
•
Idaho’s Selkirk Mountains are home to
a small but relatively stable population
of 50–80 grizzlies. Just to the east,
in western Montana’s Cabinet-Yaak
EL
E B R AT
G
The Selkirk Initiative
5
1
SELKIRK GRIZZLY BEAR HABITAT
CONSERVATION INITIATIVE
I
2 0 0 5
IN
Vital Ground working to protect 1,100-acre Bismark Meadows
n 2001, Vital Ground launched
the Selkirk Grizzly Bear Habitat
Conservation Initiative to focus
protection on one of the most vulnerable grizzly populations in the lower
48 states. Currently, Vital Ground is
working to protect Bismark Meadows,
an 1,100-acre complex of wetlands
and meadows in northern Idaho that
provides critical spring and fall bear
habitat.
FA L L
C
Photo by Galen Rowell
Vital News
YEARS
Ecosystem, grizzlies are in serious
jeopardy, with only an estimated 30–40
bears remaining. However, recent
research suggests that these populations may be more genetically isolated
than anyone previously suspected,
and genetic diversity in these bears is
dwindling. One essential key to the
survival and recovery of both of these
populations is to protect the diminishing linkage zones between the two
landscapes in an effort to re-establish
genetic flow.
Yaak Ecosystems warranted
a listing upgrade from “threatened” to
“endangered.” However, both populations were precluded from reclassification due to higher priorities for other
species. Although the Selkirk and
Cabinet-Yaak Ecosystems are classified
separately for grizzly recovery, it is
becoming clear that each is a “peninsula” of a single ecosystem bridged
by Canada’s Purcell Mountain Range,
although movement between these
areas is currently limited.
In 1999, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service determined that grizzly bear
populations in the Selkirk and Cabinet-
So far, the Selkirk grizzly population has survived for three reasons:
(1) protection under the Endangered
Species Act; (2) secure foraging and
denning habitat in the Selkirk Crest
Management Area, located between
Priest Lake and the Kootenai River
Valley; and (3) access to low elevation
food sources during the critical spring
and fall periods that dictate grizzlies’
survival.
Staff photo
The Selkirk Mountains are often snowbound until mid-May, so grizzlies must seek food in
lower elevations when they emerge from hibernation. In spring, lowlands such as Bismark
Meadows erupt with grasses, forbs, mushrooms, and tree buds that sustain bears until berry
crops ripen in summer. (The Selkirk bear population is largely vegetarian, with berries and
other plant foods comprising the bulk of their caloric intake.) Without continued access to low
elevation food sources in spring and again in autumn, the Selkirk population will fail.
Although the core of the Selkirk
Mountains is a relatively safe haven
for grizzlies, the bears that range there
depend on lowlands in the Kootenai
River Valley and Priest Lake area to
provide adequate spring and autumn
forage. When grizzlies emerge from
hibernation in spring they must immediately find food to recharge their body
weight. This need is particularly acute
in lactating females with cubs, whose
survival is crucial to the viability of the
population.
Continued on page 3
V
ITAL
GROUND
Building T-2, Fort Missoula Road
Missoula, MT 59804
(406) 549-8650 • Fax: (406) 549-8787
info@vitalground.org • www.vitalground.org
FOUNDERS
DOUG AND LYNNE SEUS
BART THE BEAR
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
DOUGLAS H. CHADWICK
JAMES R. HOLBROOK, J.D.
ROBERT W. KOONS
NANCY A. MCLAUGHLIN, J.D.
M. BANU QURESHI, CHAIR
DOUG SEUS
KELLY A. WILSON
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
GARY J. WOLFE, PH.D.
HONORARY BOARD
JENNIFER ANISTON
JEFF BRIDGES
SUSAN BRIDGES
ANTHONY HOPKINS
BRAD PITT
EDWARD ZWICK
ADVISORY BOARD
RICHARD BARKER
Stunt Coordinator & Director
LARRY CESSPOOCH
Cultural Advisor, Ute Tribe
JOHN CRAIGHEAD, PH.D.
Ecologist, Scientific Advisor
WENDY FISHER
Land Conservationist
JEAN CRAIGHEAD GEORGE
Author
JACK HORNER, PH.D.
Paleontologist
PHIL & ANN JOHNSON
Coach, Utah Jazz • Teacher
LISA KIRSCHNER
Attorney
THOMAS D. MANGELSEN
Nature Photographer
KEN MCCONNELL
Heber Valley Service Railroad
CHRIS MORGAN
Bear Specialist
DEREK REICH
Videographer
MARK AND VIRGINIA SPRAGG
Author • Screenwriter
PETER M. STEVENS, M.D.
Orthopedic Surgeon
BEAU TURNER
Philanthropist
LOUISA WILLCOX
Wildlife Conservationist
ROB WILLIAMS, PH.D.
Marine Biologist
WILLIAM WINSTEAD
Real Estate Broker
eXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S CORNER
W
OW! It’s been a busy spring and summer for Vital Ground, and we will do
our best to bring you up-to-date on many exciting happenings in this issue
of Vital News.
In late April, we loaded up two 6’ x 12’ U-Haul trailers and moved Vital
Ground’s office 575 miles from Park City, Utah, to our new home in Missoula,
Montana. We were fortunate to find great office space at historic Fort Missoula.
We are located at the old Post Headquarters building, which is on the National
Registry of Historic Places (see Vital Ground Moves on page 6). The Montana
Natural History Center had occupied this space during the past few years, but
they relocated to a larger facility about the time Vital Ground was looking for a
new home. What a fortunate coincidence for Vital Ground!
Not only did we face the normal challenges of building new business relationships in a new community, we had to hire and train an entirely new staff. Our
Park City staff of Heidi Skaggs, Chris Skaggs, and Robin Zaft decided not to
make the move to Montana. They did an outstanding job for Vital Ground over
the years and will certainly be missed—but Shannon Foley (office manager)
and Jill Scott (bookkeeping and data entry) have done a fantastic job of quickly
learning the ropes and getting the new office organized and running smoothly
(see New Faces on page 6).
Our relocation to the heart of grizzly country has already paid off. By being
more centrally located, we have had many opportunities to meet and interact
with our conservation partners, and we are actively participating in community
working groups focused on grizzly bear and habitat conservation. We can quickly
and efficiently get to the landscapes and habitats we are working to protect. Ryan
Lutey, our Director of Lands, has spent many days in the field meeting with
landowners, touring prospective conservation properties, and providing some
“hands-on” attention to the lands Vital Ground currently owns. And in early
April, we acquired our first property at Bismark Meadows (see cover story).
We can’t forget that 2005 is Vital Ground’s 15th Anniversary. In mid-June, I
had the pleasure of visiting Vital Ground’s inaugural conservation project, a
240-acre parcel of grizzly bear habitat that Vital Ground purchased in 1991. The
property is located about 185 miles northeast of Missoula, adjacent to The Nature
Conservancy’s Pine Butte Swamp Preserve. We left Missoula early in the morning, and during the relatively short drive up the Blackfoot River and then into the
foothills of the Rocky Mountain Front, we saw elk, moose, mule deer, whitetailed deer, pronghorn, coyotes, prairie dogs, yellow-bellied marmots, bald and
golden eagles, ring-necked pheasants, Canada geese, snow geese, white pelicans,
sandhill cranes, great blue herons and numerous species of ducks and other birds.
The journey reinforced what a wonderful wildlife treasure we have, and how
important it is to protect our remaining wild lands and wildlife habitats. Once on
the property, in the shadow of the impressive mountains rising along the Rocky
Mountain Front, it was easy to see why Doug and Lynne Seus were so inspired
15 years ago. It is these landscapes and conservation opportunities that constantly renew our commitment to our mission! Thank you for your support.
AMBASSADORS
LITTLE BART THE BEAR™
HONEY-BUMP THE BEAR™
TANK THE BEAR™
Gary J. Wolfe
VITAL NEWS
2
FALL 2005
Selkirk (from page 1)
Vital Ground launched the Selkirk
Grizzly Bear Habitat Conservation
Initiative by protecting several properties with prime grizzly habitat in
the region. In 2001, the Foundation
purchased a 20-acre inholding in the
Boundary Creek Wildlife Management Area (WMA) on the east side of
the Selkirks near the U.S./Canadian
border. Two years later, we partnered
with Ducks Unlimited to acquire 770
acres located immediately south of
the Boundary Creek WMA. We are
currently working with landowners to
develop “bear-friendly” management
agreements and conservation easements
on nearby properties, and participating in local county-based grizzly bear
conservation committee meetings.
Bismark Meadows:
A Selkirk Gem
Located just west of Priest Lake,
Bismark Meadows is a rich complex of
meadows and wetlands that features a
dramatic array of rare flora and fauna.
It supports several endangered plant
species and provides habitat for moose,
elk, deer, black bear, wolves, lynx,
westslope cutthroat trout, and eagles, as
well as grizzlies. The Idaho Fish and
Game Department (IDF&G) documented radio-collared female grizzlies
with cubs using Bismark Meadows, and
recorded numerous accounts of other
grizzlies using the area. Federal and
state grizzly researchers concur that
Bismark Meadows is critically important to the remaining 50–80 grizzly
bears of the Selkirk sub-population.
In August 2000, Vital Ground began
a multi-phase effort to protect the
habitat values of Bismark Meadows
from being choked off by encroaching
development. We first commissioned an
inventory and real estate evaluation of
the private properties encompassing the
Meadows and adjacent upland zones.
In 2002, wetland portions of the
Meadows were partially protected
by a conservation easement funded
through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service’s Wetlands Reserve Program
(WRP). However, the adjacent upland
Staff photo
Vital Ground leases the Bismark Meadows homestead it recently purchased to the Idaho
Department of Fish and Game for use as a patrol cabin.
portions of the six properties comprising Bismark Meadows remained open
to development and other uses that are
incompatible with use by grizzly bears
and other endangered and sensitive
species.
interest-free loan to pay for the 19-acre
property and secure option agreements
with other willing sellers in the area.
The Foundation is now actively fundraising to repay this loan and to launch
the next phase of the project.
Two properties have since been
acquired for conservation purposes.
The first 57-acre parcel was purchased
by a conservation buyer who will hold
it intact while Vital Ground fundraises
to consolidate ownership.
The clock is ticking. In the final
analysis, the future of the Selkirk grizzly population depends on permanent
protection of these low elevation lands.
Vital Ground stands alone as the only
land conservation organization exclusively focused on protecting critical
grizzly bear habitat. The participation
of numerous foundations, private
landowners and public land managers
is the key to success, but we also need
your help to save Bismark Meadows
for the future of the Selkirk bears.
This past spring, Vital Ground acquired
a 19-acre parcel bordering State
Highway 57—a location especially
vulnerable to commercial development.
Vital Ground now leases a log home on
the property to the IDF&G for use as a
patrol cabin. Our agreement provides
IDF&G with a base of operations on
the northwest side of the Selkirks, and
relieves Vital Ground of many of the
property maintenance costs. We will
also coordinate with the USDA Natural
Resource Conservation Service to
continue wetland rehabilitation efforts
on the portions of properties protected
by WRP easements. In the future,
plans for a wildlife viewing area would
provide educational opportunities
without impacting the habitat values of
the Meadows.
Vital Ground obtained a two-year,
VITAL NEWS
3
FALL 2005
Help us protect
Bismark Meadows!
Vital Ground is working against
time to protect the meadows from
inappropriate
development
and
fragmentation. This is our major
funding focus for 2005/2006. Please
consider a donation for the future of
the Selkirk bears.
Magic in Knight Inlet
My 2005 Wild
Bear Adventure
M
y trip to Knight Inlet last May
was an unforgettable wilderness
experience. Set in British Columbia’s
coastal temperate rainforest, where
spectacular mountains plunge to the
sea, Knight Inlet is the longest fjord on
the B.C. coast and teems with wildlife.
For a week, our only neighbors were
grizzly and black bears, seals, otters,
dolphins, bald eagles and the multitude
of other animals that make Knight Inlet
their home.
Our group of 19 gathered the first night
at the charming Painter’s Lodge in
Campbell River on Vancouver Island,
and got acquainted over a reception
dinner and tour at the local historical
museum—a great way to launch our
trip. The next morning we embarked
on a breath-taking float plane flight
into the Inlet, giving us a bird’s-eye
view of sea and wilderness.
Knight Inlet’s environmentally friendly, floating lodge is nestled in Glendale
Cove, one of the few protected anchorages in the 100-mile-long fjord. The
knowledgeable staff and expert guides
immediately made us feel like part of
the family. Our days were customized
to fit the preferences of each guest,
be they bear watching, bear tracking,
hiking the rainforest, photography,
fishing, boat trips, or kayaking. In the
Photo by John Swallow
“Marilyn” and her cubs forage and rest at waters edge.
evenings, after 5-star gourmet dinners,
we were treated to a wide array of
natural history presentations.
Glendale Cove is home to one of the
largest concentrations of brown bears
in British Columbia, and this was my
first experience seeing grizzlies in the
wild. Setting out in boats, we spotted
grizzlies, black bears, bald eagles,
osprey, mink, seals, otters, dolphins
and dozens of other species as we
toured the estuary. The boats gave
us close-up views of bears feeding
on luxuriant spring growth on the
shoreline, while allowing us to keep
a respectful distance. We were able to
take our time to watch animals’ behavior and interactions as they went about
their lives in this marine wilderness.
We grew especially fond of a blond
grizzly sow nicknamed “Marilyn”
and her twin two-year-old cubs. Our
guides told us that this would be the
last spring the cubs would be with
their mother and we all felt they were
surely too little to be pushed out—yet
we understood that this is the circle of
life. It would soon be time for Marilyn
to mate again and hopefully raise yet
another family. With luck, the cubs
will also become successful breeding
adults. The thrill of seeing these bears
for the first time after working so hard
to preserve the land they walk on truly
brought tears to my eyes.
Our time spent in this paradise added
fuel to my passion for grizzlies and
their wild homes. My Wild Bear
Adventure was an exhilarating journey
I will never forget.
—Kelly Wilson
Kelly Wilson has been a Vital Ground board
member since 2002. Kelly lives in Park City,
Utah, where she is a licensed realtor.
Be Part of the 2006
Wild Bear Adventure
L
ooking for a great vacation? Try a journey
into the heart of Canada’s Great Bear
Rainforest wilderness. Join us for the
5th Annual Wild Bear Adventure to
Knight Inlet, May 13–19, 2006. Visit
our website at www.vitalground.org to
discover more about Knight Inlet, and
book your reservation by calling Vital
Ground at (406) 549-8650 or email
info@vitalground.org. Space is limited,
so we hope to hear from you soon!
Photo by Dave Campbell
Staff photo
2005 Wild Bear Adventure participants are all smiles at the end of a fun-filled
week.
VITAL NEWS
4
FALL 2005
Letter from the Chair
Dear Friends,
F
all is upon us and with that, the final weeks of gorging by bears in preparation for
their long hibernation. Grizzlies and black bears may be entering a long-anticipated
period of R&R, but for Vital Ground, fall and winter are our busiest periods. We are
initiating and closing land transactions, and raising the funds needed to complete these
conservation projects.
Autumn is also a great time to look back on where we’ve been, and determine where
and how we want to focus our efforts for the coming year.
Over Vital Ground’s fifteen-year history, we have forged many partnerships in order to
conserve the grizzly habitat most in need of protection. We have worked on multiple
projects in the largest recovery zones in the contiguous U.S.: Greater Yellowstone and
the Northern Continental Divide. We have led the private land conservation effort within
Northern Idaho’s Selkirk Ecosystem. We have also participated in several initiatives in
Alaska to protect critical salmon-spawning habitat on Kodiak Island, Afognak Island,
and in the southwest peninsula.
But there is so much more work ahead. It is often difficult to select one project over
another, and sometimes the decision boils down to which project is actually doable.
Which landowner is willing to donate or sell an easement at appraised value even
though the market value may be much higher? Which rancher holds a conservation
ethic strong enough that he or she will protect the biological value of the land in the face
of mounting pressure to subdivide and cash in? And which transaction is financially and
logistically within Vital Ground’s reach?
As a small and focused organization, Vital Ground leverages our resources as much as
possible. We partner with other conservation organizations, foster relationships with
conservation buyers and lenders, structure multi-year payouts and option purchases, and
obtain challenge grants. Although we can’t protect the original range of the grizzly, we
can target the habitat that is most critical to grizzly recovery today.
During 2006, we will continue our efforts to conserve Bismark Meadows, a wetland
meadow system in northern Idaho that has been labeled one of the top conservation
priorities by state wildlife biologists. In the Swan Valley of northern Montana, we are
working with a landowner to place a conservation easement on a key private parcel
in grizzly linkage habitat. In Idaho’s Kootenai Valley, we will be adding 43 acres to
our existing holdings of valuable grizzly habitat adjoining National Forest land. And
in Alaska, we will press for the completion of the Afognak Island forest conservation
project. We are also ready to respond to immediate conservation priorities that may
arise throughout the grizzly’s range.
Without our members and partners, we could never have helped protect over 240,000
acres to date. We hope that you will continue to support our efforts to ensure long-term
survival of our brown bear populations. In the years ahead, we will continue the battle to
safeguard critical habitat for the grizzly and the many other species of wildlife that share
the great bear’s range.
Source of Funds
Donated Goods
and Services
Other
$80,886
$25,313
5.8%
1.8%
Special Events
Merchandise
$123,333
$14,435
8.9%
1.0%
Grants
$493,000
35.5%
Donations
$652,647
47.0%
Total - $1,389,614
Use of Funds
Fundraising
$141,609
13.6%
Management &
Administration
$96,572
9.2%
Programs
$806,451
77.2%
Total - $1,044,632
Thank you for your loyalty and dedication to our mission!
The Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance
Standards for Charity Accountability, suggests that
a charity should spend at least 65 percent of its total
expenses on program activities. To receive a copy of
The Vital Ground Foundation’s most recent audited
financial statements or IRS Form 990, please contact
our office.
Banu Qureshi
VITAL NEWS
Vital Ground
Financial Summary
2003−2004
5
FALL 2005
New Faces
V
ital Ground is pleased to welcome
a new board member and three
new staff members.
Nancy McLaughlin joined our board in
April 2005. Nancy is a professor of law
at the University of Utah’s S.J. Quinney
College of Law and a faculty member
of the college’s Wallace Stegner Center
for Land, Resources, and the Environment. A graduate of the University
of Virginia School of Law, she now
teaches federal income tax, trusts and
estates, estate planning, and private
land conservation. She also writes and
lectures widely on private land protection measures. Nancy also serves as
probate editor for the American Bar
Association’s Real Property Probate
& Trust Journal and is on the Board of
Directors of Utah Open Lands.
medical/dental field before turning her
attention to conservation organizations.
Shannon has had experience working
in different realms of the conservation
field at both the Rocky Mountain Elk
Foundation and The Boone and Crockett Club. Her free time is spent camping, volunteering and enjoying the great
outdoors with her family and friends.
Jill Scott joined the Vital Ground team
in May 2005 to oversee our bookkeeping, membership and data management.
Jill worked from 1995 to 2004 at the
Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation where
she gained her experience in accounting and event coordination. She also
received her certification as a Pharmacy
Technician in 2003, and does fill-in
work at a local pharmacy. Jill spends
her free time fly-fishing, hunting, and
enjoying time with friends and family.
Vital Ground
Moves to Historic
Fort Missoula
W
Staff photo
New Vital Ground Employees: (left to right)
Shannon Foley, Jill Scott, Ryan Lutey.
Ryan Lutey joined Vital Ground in
February 2005 as Director of Lands.
Ryan is a member of the Montana Bar
Association and a 2004 graduate of the
University of Montana School of Law.
He specialized in Environmental and
Natural Resources Law and served as
editor-in-chief of the University Public
Land and Resources Law Review. Ryan
previously served as director of media
relations for the Theodore Roosevelt
Conservation Partnership. An avid
outdoors enthusiast, Ryan spends his
free time fishing, hunting and whitewater rafting in Montana and Idaho.
Shannon Foley now keeps things
humming as our office manager. Shannon comes to Vital Ground with a variety of office management experience.
She worked for several years in the
hen Vital Ground made the
decision to relocate from Park
City to Missoula, we looked high
and low for suitable office space. Our
search included industrial complexes,
downtown basements, a former dental
office, and even an apartment above a
convenience store. We needed adequate
space and reasonable rent, and hoped
for a building and location whose
character matched that of Vital Ground.
Just when we thought we would have to
settle for something short of our goal,
we found the perfect spot. The Montana
Natural History Center was moving into
larger quarters and was vacating offices
they had rented at Fort Missoula. Now
Building T-2, historically known as
Post Headquarters, is Vital Ground’s
new home.
Not only have we found a spacious
habitat for Vital Ground, but we are
surrounded by gracious grounds and
a many-faceted history. Fort Missoula
was founded in 1877, when two
companies of the U.S. Army’s Seventh
Infantry were stationed here during the
VITAL NEWS
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FALL 2005
Staff photo
Formerly the Post Headquarters, this
historic building now houses Vital Ground.
American Indian conflicts. In turn, the
Fort was home to the 24th and 25th
Black Infantry Regiments in the 1880s
and 1890s; a World War I training
school for Army auto mechanics; and
the Fourth Infantry Regiment, which
supervised Civilian Conservation
Corps (CCC) workers during the Great
Depression. During World War II,
Fort Missoula served as an internment
camp for Italian detainees and Japanese-American citizens. After 1947, it
continued as a base for Army National
Guard and Naval Reserve units.
Today, Fort Missoula is a beautful
campus that is home to the Lolo
National Forest, Bureau of Land
Management’s regional headquarters,
the National Guard, and numerous
nonprofit organizations. In April
2000, the Northern Rockies Heritage
Center received title to much of the
property, now designated as the Fort
Missoula Historic District and listed
on the National Register of Historic
Places. The grounds encompass thirteen
historic buildings, open spaces, treelined roads, a small military cemetery,
and a parade ground surrounded by an
arc of elegant buildings on “Officer’s
Row.”
Built in 1906, our building originally
served as the Post Exchange and a
recreation hall for soldiers, and in 1962
became the Post Headquarters. Over the
years, it also housed a Naval Reserve
training center, Forest Service offices,
the U.S. Army facilities manager, the
Montana Natural History Center—and
now Vital Ground. In addition to Vital
Ground’s offices, the building contains
the spacious Heritage Hall—a wonderful space for special events, managed
by the Heritage Center. Please come
visit us and our new home!
1990 - 2005
VI
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Celebrating
15 years
19
90
- 200
5
Peaks to Prairie: Making the Right Connections
L
ong, long ago, it now seems, Doug
“It was like the mountain wasn’t even
Seus and I went hiking up a big,
there.”
ice-carved valley in Glacier National
Doug and I traveled on south of Glacier
Park. It was autumn. Mountain goats
Park along the Rocky Mountain Front,
and bighorn sheep in new coats ready
where the eastern edge of the Bob
for winter grazed along the limestone
Marshall Wilderness looms like a wave
ledges that rose for a vertical
mile on either side. Near the
OUR GROWING INVESTMENT
base of one peak, where a gorge
broadened into a talus slope, a
grizzly appeared. It was moving
In partnership with many landowners and organizations, Vital Ground has helped conserve nearly one
on a course that led straight up the
mountainside, past the huckleberry quarter-million acres of wildlife habitat, most within
the past five years!
bushes dropping their burgundy
233,042
leaves, past the beargrass stalks
acres
in an old avalanche fan, over rock
rubble and belts of reddish strata,
and on above the mountain goat
7,270
acres
bands. A storm was blowing in
across the upper elevations, but
the great bear never paused, never
400
even slowed its stride. It powered
acres
up into the fresh snowfields and
tracked them with its wide paws
’91–’95
’96–’00
’01–’05
and long claws as it kept climbing,
tireless, beautiful in its strength,
indomitable, until the clouds wrapped
of stone poised to break upon the Great
around its form, and the bear vanished
Plains. And though we had just seen
into the realm of the summit.
the grizzly in its role as the master of
Together with his wife Lynne, Doug
had worked with grizzly bears for
much of his life, training them for
television and movies. But the work
was so demanding that the Seuses had
rarely found time to observe those
bears’ relatives in the wild. After
watching this one, Doug, who regularly
wrestled with a 1,500-pound Kodiak
named Bart, was struck nearly speechless. “What an animal,” was all he
could say when he found his voice.
tall, rugged landscapes, we thought
about how this species once lived on
the buffalo grasslands as far east as the
Mississippi. The Front, we knew, represented the last place in the contiguous
states where the bears still travel out
onto the prairie foothills.
Lofty mountain strongholds offer
refuge and summer habitat for this
species, listed as threatened since 1975.
But grizzlies require places such as
VITAL NEWS
7
FALL 2005
prairie edges and lush valley bottoms
as well to recover their health. They
need them because animals such as
deer and elk pass the cold months there,
leaving winter-killed carcasses for the
bears to scavenge when they emerge
from their dens each spring. They
need lower elevations because
they are where plants first sprout
as the snows melt away. They
need those warmer habitats at
times through summer, because
the variety and abundance of
green shoots, roots, bulbs, and
insect food is so much greater
at the mountains’ feet than
toward their crests. They need
the lowlands again in the fall
as frosts shrivel the vegetation
higher up. And, always, they
need them as crossings to reach
other mountain chains to explore
new homelands, meet mates from
other populations, and exchange
genes. That’s simply how megamammals with home ranges
encompassing several hundred square
miles work. They don’t have a choice.
Doug and I realized two things: First,
grizzlies aren’t high country creatures.
They rely upon the whole ecosystem,
from its summits to its foothills and
valley floodplains. Second, if a countryside can still support grizzlies, it
will be good and whole and rich and
wild and free enough to support all the
other creatures struggling to hold on to
a place in this world, be they speckled
trout, wild orchids, or wide-wandering
Continued on page 8
L GRO
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1990 - 2005
19
90
PEAKS (from page 7)
wolverines. The next thing I knew,
the Seuses had purchased a property
used by grizzlies along the Front and
arranged a conservation easement to
protect it. And they were asking
me to help them come up with a
name and logo for an organization dedicated to protecting more
private land, mostly at lower
elevations, to round out and link
the ecosystems where great bears
still roamed. The plan was to identify the critical habitat most at risk
and then try to acquire it directly
or through easements from willing
sellers. The name we settled on
was Vital Ground.
The Nature Conservancy. This is partly
because we insist on cooperation rather
than competition, and partly because
Vital Ground does not practice political
advocacy or become involved in public
debates over specific issues. Most of
240,712 VITAL ACRES PROTECTED
LAND ACQUISITIONS
10% − 24,434 acres
CONSERVATION EASEMENTS
7% − 17,752 acres
Vital Ground’s founding Board
of Directors believed so strongly
in the value of our goal and
the power of the grizzly as an
ambassador for the wildest of North
America’s wildlife communities, we
were sure people would flood our
mailbox with money to help. Well, we
received some support, safeguarded a
few hundred acres directly, and contributed to projects with partners to reduce
conflicts between grizzly bears and
landowners in key habitats. But like
other small, start-up groups with more
enthusiasm than experience, we had a
lot to learn about the practicalities of
fund-raising and membership acquisition. Not to mention all the ways a land
transaction can fall apart before the
final documents are signed.
all, it is because we recognize that
conservationists of all stripes must band
together more closely and more often if
we are to have any hope of contending
with the pace of development threatening to fragment ecosystems. We have to
work smarter, and we have to work on
a larger scale than ever before. That’s
what the great bears keep telling us:
the challenge is not only to round out
ecosystems, but to connect one with the
next so the wild inhabitants can adjust
to shifts in vegetation, climate, and
other conditions over time and maintain genetic interchange throughout a
region.
With time, we became more effective,
raising the total acreage we helped
protect from hundreds during the first
five years to thousands during the
next five years. We also got better at
partnering with other, usually larger,
better established groups. All of us take
great pride in the way Vital Ground
developed its ability to carry out joint
projects with a tremendous range of
wildlife and conservation organizations, from state and federal agencies
to such groups as Ducks Unlimited,
the National Wildlife Federation, and
By joining forces with many partners,
Vital Ground has now helped protect
nearly a quarter of a million acres
of habitat. Formerly, our paid staff
consisted of one multi-tasking executive director and one secretary at offices
in Park City, Utah, near the Seuses’
home. Equally overworked, unpaid
Board members took on all the other
duties involved. As of 2005, we have a
new executive director, Gary Wolfe, a
full-time lands specialist, Ryan Lutey,
and office staff Shannon Foley and Jill
Scott. And our headquarters are now
GRAZING ALLOTMENT RETIREMENTS
83% − 198,526 acres
VITAL NEWS
8
FALL 2005
- 200
5
located in Missoula, Montana, near
the heart of Rocky Mountain grizzly
country. It’s still a relatively small
staff, which keeps overhead expenses
to a minimum. But we have a talented
Board and a number of volunteers to
share the workload, and we regularly contract out more specialized
tasks.
Looking back, Vital Ground has
come an incredibly long way since
Doug Seus and I watched that
silvertipped bear climb a mountain
as though it were a mere hill. We’ve
had our own mountains to climb
since then. While we have never
moved as strongly and surely as a
grizzly and probably never will, we
like to think that we share the great
bear’s unshakeable drive to get
where it wants to go. We’re well on
our way. If we keep moving ahead
at the rate we have been lately, we and
the bears and all the smaller creatures
that depend upon the same landscapes
will surely reach new heights together.
—Douglas H. Chadwick
Douglas Chadwick, one of Vital Ground’s
founding board members, is a wildlife biologist and prolific author. He has written eight
books and produced more than 300 articles for
a variety of publications, including National
Geographic, Audubon and Reader’s Digest.
Douglas lives in Whitefish, Montana.
Teaming Up for
Conservation
Our success and accomplishments
during the past 15 years have been
made possible by the support of our
many partners and donors:
• Nonprofit Conservation
Organizations ______________ 10
• Philanthropic Foundations_____ 26
• Business Partners ___________ 30
• Individual Donors ________ 2,989
Thank you for your
generous support!
VI
D
1990 - 2005
L GRO
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Photo by Derek Reich
Photo by Derek Re
ich
Photo by Keith Highley
Looking Back: The Beginning of Bart’s Legacy
V
ital Ground probably started with cardboard boxes in our
kitchen. Inside the boxes, nestled in sweet hay, bright
eyes of yellow and green peeked out at us. Orphaned wild
things, which because of cars, trucks, bulldozers or poaching,
found themselves in our human world. Raccoons who lived
on our shoulders; a bobcat kitten that slept in our
slippers; a baby badger who denned behind the
toilet; a fawn that sucked our kids’ ears and
wolf cubs that shared their beds. With the
arrival of a 6-pound Kodiak bear, whom we
named Bart, our destiny was met and we
provided for our family, both two-legged
and four-legged, by training wild animals
for the film business.
such a focused mission, we rounded up our friends with true
wilderness in their hearts and founded Vital Ground with the
purchase of 240 acres on the Teton River in Montana. Now
that land is forever wild.
That was 15 years ago. Today Vital Ground has been involved
in the conservation of over 240,000 acres—a thousandfold increase from our first project!
We are extremely proud of our select and dedicated Board of Directors and are thrilled to have
Gary Wolfe at our helm. Our spirits are ever
rekindled. A few days ago we received an email from a VG supporter in the Netherlands.
He wrote, “Please keep up the great work you
are doing. This is so needed and so valuable
to the rest of the world for you to show us
what a lot of people have already forgotten...the
awesome beauty of the planet we live on which
mankind tries so hard to dismantle into a hanging
ball of devastated rocks.”
After we did a movie called “The Bear,”
we found ourselves for the first time in our
lives with a savings account. Bigger than the
savings account was a deep sense of obligation to the animals that, through no choice of
their own, were living in captivity. Their lives in our
world had to matter for something more than movies.
Thanks to all of you, Vital Ground will continue to make a
difference and will remain the finest thing we have ever done
with our lives.
We searched for the right organization. Pretty simple stuff:
set aside land by outright purchase or easement—land that
was wild enough for the Grizzly to roam free as guardian of
all else that was wild with him. Unable to find a group with
VITAL NEWS
Yours for the wild,
Doug and Lynne Seus
9
FALL 2005
L GRO
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19
90
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2
6
3
4
1
5
7
9
8
10
14
11
16
12
13
17
15
Vital Ground’s partnership projects to conserve
grizzly and wildlife habitat.
Selkirk Ecosystem, ID
1
2
3
4
5
Bismark Meadows ▼
Boundary Creek ▼
Smith Creek ▼
Canyon Creek ◆
West Kootenai ▼
Cabinet-Yaak Ecosystems, MT
6 Poston/Lance ◆
7 Bass ◆
8 Fowler Creek ◆
Northern Continental Divide
Ecosystem
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
Scoffin Creek ◆
Dupuyer Creek ◆
Cow/Blackleaf Creek ◆
Blackleaf Area ◆
Pine Butte ▼
Rising Wolf ◆
Blackfoot-Clearwater ▼
Wolf Creek ◆
17 Windfall Creek ◆
Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
18
19
20
21
Moose Creek ●
Blackrock/Spread Creek
Horse Butte ●
Island Park ●
●
20
Alaska
22
23
24
25
26
Sturgeon Lagoon ▼
Brown’s Lagoon ▼
Uyak Bay ▼
Perenosa Bay ▼
Wood-Tikchick State Park ▼
21
◆ Conservation Easement
18
▼ Land Acquisition
19
● Grazing Allotment Retirement
22
23
ALASKA
24
25
26
VITAL NEWS
10
FALL 2005
5
Project profiles
Partnership with
Montana Land
Reliance Secures
Three Easements
Idaho Project
Seeks to Reduce
Grizzly Bear
Mortality
T
U
here is strength in numbers, and
successful land conservation is
most often accomplished by collaborating with partners to leverage funding,
expand connections and augment
talent. This past year, Vital Ground
provided financial support to the
Montana Land Reliance (MLR) and
several conservation-minded landowners to complete conservation easements
on three properties in northwestern
Montana. MLR is a nonpartisan,
nonprofit land trust that has been
conserving ecologically and historically important lands in Montana for
the past 27 years.
This cooperative project protects a
total of 724 acres in the Yaak, Swan
and Flathead Valleys. All three properties help protect rich valley-bottom
wetlands and riparian areas—habitats
that are quickly disappearing with the
high pace of development in the region.
Two of these voluntary land use agreements were completed in 2004 and
the third is expected to be completed
by the end of 2005. While MLR will
maintain the conservation easements,
Vital Ground covered essential costs to
complete the projects.
Gene and Patricia Tingle undertook
a voluntary land use agreement with
MLR to protect forested wetlands and
ponds for wildlife on their property in
the Swan Valley. Their land is adjacent
to one of four critical grizzly travel
corridors that connect the Bob Marshall
and Mission Mountain Wilderness
Areas. This project not only protects
habitat for the grizzly linkage zone,
but helps conserve diminishing valley
bottom wetlands used by fish, marten,
moose, grouse, waterfowl, songbirds
and other wildlife.
Staff photo
The largest of the three properties,
Ray Ghafoori’s land sits adjacent to
Mud Lake in the Flathead Valley, one
of Montana’s fastest growing areas.
A conservation easement will protect
wildlife habitat along Wolf Creek,
which flows from Mud Lake into the
Swan River, as well as the agricultural
nature of the land. Protecting this
property provides a buffer for wildlife
between the rapid development in
the valley and the public lands of the
Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem. Such lands are important safe
havens for grizzlies that wander out of
the nearby Swan Mountains in search
of food and new territory.
We look forward to the completion
of an agreement with Mary Campbell
and Pam Fuqua this year who wish to
protect wildlife habitat on their property in the Yaak Valley. Surrounded by
prime grizzly country and the CabinetYaak Grizzly Recovery Zone, the Yaak
Valley is a critical corridor for bears
and other wildlife, but is threatened by
increasing development. A conservation easement on the Campbell-Fuqua
property will safeguard a complex of
rich wetlands and the stream corridor
of Fowler Creek, which flows into the
South Fork of the Yaak River. Their
land hosts grizzly and black bears,
mink, marten, elk, moose, osprey and
eagles, as well as waterfowl, songbirds
and woodpeckers.
VITAL NEWS
11
FALL 2005
sing radio-telemetry, biologists
have been able to track the fate
of dozens of bears in the Selkirk and
Cabinet-Yaak Ecosystems over the
years. Between 1982 and 1999, most
known grizzly mortalities in these two
ecosystems were caused by humans,
and many were shootings—the result
of mistaken identity during black
bear hunts, accidental shootings, and
intentional poaching.
To address this unsustainable situation, the Idaho Department of Fish and
Game (IDF&G) launched the Selkirk
Grizzly Bear Enforcement and Education Program. Through a generous
donation from Mr. Keith Johnson, Vital
Ground was able to grant $3,000 to
help support the program in December
2004.
From spring through fall, the project
puts a conservation officer in the field
to run enforcement patrols and educate
hunters and recreationists on bear
identification and safety. Come winter,
the focus shifts to public presentations at schools, rod and gun clubs,
and hunter education classes. IDF&G
estimates that the program reaches
more than 3,000 people each year
and is appreciably increasing local
awareness of grizzly identification and
conservation.
Brian Johnson, coordinator of the
project, says, “The program seems
quite popular throughout the region.
Public awareness concerning grizzly
bears seems much higher than prior
to its implementation. Measuring
the effectiveness of law enforcement
efforts is difficult, but the bears are
recovering. I would like to think that
our efforts have helped.”
Project profiles
protected areas, such as Yellowstone
and Glacier National Parks, where
bears, wolves and bison are in repeated
conflict with high densities of livestock.
The purchased allotments are then
retired from future grazing by the
public lands agencies, providing
more room for wildlife. Having
received a fair market price for the
allotments, ranchers can then use the
funds to acquire grazing permits in
other areas.
More Elbow Room for Bears
Grazing
Allotment
Retirements
C
onflicts with livestock pose one
of the most significant threats to
the recovery of grizzly populations in
Northern Rockies ecosystems. Bears
occasionally prey on sheep and cattle,
and when they do, they typically lose.
Managers will attempt to relocate
“problem” bears, but in the end these
bears are usually destroyed if conflicts
with people and their livestock persist.
But what if we addressed the other half
of this dilemma?
In the Northern Rockies, as in much
of the West, much of our public land is
leased to ranchers for seasonal grazing.
These leases are valuable and essential
assets to livestock operations, and
many have been held by family ranch
concerns for decades. With funding
assistance from Vital Ground and other
National Wildlife Federation photo
partners, the National Wildlife Federation’s (NWF) Northern Rockies Project
Office has spear-headed a program to
“buy out” grazing allotments from willing sellers to reduce wildlife conflicts.
NWF focuses on areas adjacent to
Since 2003, Vital Ground has
contributed significant funds to four
successful allotment buyouts in the
Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, totaling 125,000 acres. Another 74,000-acre
project is in the works in an area adjacent to one of Yellowstone’s highestdensity grizzly populations. At a cost of
only $2 to $4 per acre, allotment retirements are a particularly cost-effective
means of protecting critical lands for
grizzlies, wolves and other wildlife. We
think this is a visionary program, and
we need your help to continue funding
allotment buyouts that cut a fair deal
for both ranchers and bears.
Can You Help?
Bronze Sculpture Could Fund Grizzly Habitat
C
an you help us with a unique
funding opportunity?
Would you like to obtain an outstanding piece of art and help Vital Ground
at the same time? Artist Michael Coleman is offering his magnificent bronze
sculpture, “Grizzly on the Roof,” to
help fund grizzly habitat conservation
projects. If we can find a buyer, the
artist will donate all proceeds above
the foundry costs to Vital Ground.
The life-sized sculpture depicts a bear
sitting on the roof of a beaver lodge,
with two beavers going on about their
business below him. Weighing 1,000
pounds, the sculpture stands 7’ x 4.5’ x
4.5’ and retails for $90,000. The artist
is producing a limited edition of only
18 casts, and is nearing the end of the
edition.
Michael Coleman is the recipient of
the Prix de West Award at the National
Cowboy Hall of Fame. His work is in
both public and private collections,
including the National Wildlife Art
Museum, the U.S. Embassy in Canada,
and the collections of Clint Eastwood,
Burt Reynolds and President George
Bush, Sr. You can view the artist’s
work at www.ColemanArt.com.
Please contact us at 406-549-8650 or
info@vitalground.org if you would
like color images of the bronze, or if
you know an individual or institution
who can help us capitalize on this
generous offer from Michael Coleman.
VITAL NEWS
12
FALL 2005
Photo by Michael Coleman
“Grizzly on the Roof”
BROWN BEAR’S WORLD
Autumn Is For Gluttons
B
rown bears are truly the gourmands of the natural world, able
to consume an enormous quantity and
variety of foods. But as summer days
shorten and the nights begin to cool,
bears go on a real epicurean bender to
fatten up for their long winter fast. This
autumn food-binge is called “hyperphagia,” a period of ravenous hunger and
intense foraging.
During their nearly six-month hibernation, bears must live off stored body
fat. By the time they emerge in spring,
males may have lost 30 percent of their
body weight and females that bore cubs
as much as 40 percent. At first, grizzlies seek out winterkill and areas with
young grasses and leafy plants, high in
protein and moisture. For bears in the
continent’s interior, as much as 75 to
90 percent of their diet may be plant
foods, including greens, roots, nuts and
berries. Grizzlies round out this fare
with animal protein wherever they can
find it—from carrion, fish, moose, elk
and deer, to ground squirrels, marmots,
mice, and insects. Yet through spring
and early summer, grizzlies will
continue to lose or simply maintain
their weight.
Come late summer and
early fall, when Nature’s
bounty spills over,
brown bears forage
nearly around the
clock to pack on the
pounds. Interior
bears can put
away 20,000 to
30,000 calories each day, and coastal
bears gorging on fat-laden salmon can
consume twice that much. In the high
Rockies, while warm summer days last,
grizzlies will roam alpine slopes to turn
over rocks from dawn to dusk, seeking
out concentrations of army cutworm
moths. A bear may slurp up 300,000
calories worth of moths in a month,
downing a quarter of the calories it
needs to survive for the year.
As summer slips into autumn,
grizzly appetites shift into high gear.
Whitebark pine nuts and wild berries
become especially important bear
foods. Because whitebark pines don’t
drop their seeds the year they ripen,
and grizzlies generally don’t climb
trees, bears instead rob middens where
squirrels cache hundreds of pine nuts
for the winter. Throughout the Rockies, however, many whitebark pine
forests stand dead and dying, killed
by mountain pine beetle invasions and
blister rust fungus—a deep concern for
the future of bear populations. Berries,
especially huckleberries, may make up
60 percent of a bear’s pre-hibernation
diet, and in a fruitful year the
berry feast sends bears
to their dens rippling
with blubber. But
a poor crop can
set bears off
on a frantic
search
for other
rations
to help
them
put
on
weight. Then bears are sorely tempted
by the pickings near homes and
ranches—such as livestock, beehives,
orchards, bird feeders, pet food, and
garbage—and landowners need to be
especially aware of eliminating bear
attractants.
This need for a wide variety of highcalorie seasonal foods is the principal
reason grizzlies require large home
ranges encompassing a diversity of
habitats. Especially in the season of
hyperphagia, bears are likely to roam
widely in search of food. But wandering brown bears run a gauntlet of
potential trouble. As grizzly habitat
dwindles and busy roads crisscross
bear landscapes, bears are more likely
to be hit by vehicles or simply not find
adequate resources when they most
need them. In addition, with people
abroad in the fine autumn weather hunting, fishing, berry-picking and hiking—
enjoying the very habitats bears
use—the probability of human-bear
encounters increases. In these crucial
weeks before hibernation, people need
to be especially bear-aware.
Access to secure foraging habitat for
bears throughout the spring, summer
and fall is essential to bear survival,
and yet many seasonal habitats and
critical travel corridors happen to be
in low-elevation areas and on private
lands outside of protected areas. It is
this vital ground that our foundation
targets for conservation. We are working to keep landscapes intact for bears
and ensure we have well-fed bruins
throughout the seasons.
—Christine Paige
Christine Paige is a consulting wildlife
biologist and freelance natural history
writer. Her work has been published
in technical journals and magazines
such as Audubon, Montana Magazine,
and Wild Outdoor World. Christine lives in
Stevensville, Montana.
Photo by Derek Reich
VITAL NEWS
13
FALL 2005
Bart Memorial Campaign Enters Sixth Year
O
nce again, Vital Ground
is gearing up for the Bart
Memorial, our year-end fundraising
campaign. The Bart Memorial ensures
that Vital Ground is well-positioned
to start the new year on the cutting
edge of land conservation, able
to respond in a timely manner
to urgent land protection
opportunities. Last year,
Vital Ground changed the
format of the campaign,
splitting it into the Bart
Memorial Appeal and the
Bart Memorial Challenge.
The Bart Memorial Appeal, now in
its sixth year, allows many individuals
an opportunity to remember Doug and
Lynne’s first grizzly, Bart the Bear,
through a donation in his honor. A
1,500-pound Kodiak brown bear, Bart
wowed movie audiences around the
world. But his most noteworthy role
was as Ambassador to Vital Ground:
a celebrity “spokesperson” for his
wild cousins whose survival hinges on
protection of critical habitat and linkage
ever multi-year pledge campaign.
Members who pledge ongoing financial
support join the Bart Legacy Society
and become part of a close-knit team
dedicated to supporting Vital Ground’s
mission of habitat conservation.
As people and wildlife compete for
the same land, typically wildlife
loses out. Yet acre by acre, Vital
Ground is making a difference
for grizzly bears, wolves, elk,
bison, bald eagles and many other
species. From the family who
must stretch to make a year-end
Appeal gift in the amount of $25, to
the individual who joins the Bart Legacy Society with a significant multi-year
pledge, your support keeps us going.
areas. Although Bart lost his battle with
cancer in 2000, his spirit continues to
inspire those who knew him.
Launched last December, the Bart
Memorial Challenge was our first
In honor of Bart and his legacy of
conserving vital ground, we hope
that all of our friends will respond as
generously as possible to the 2005 Bart
Memorial Campaign.
Lasting Gifts
A Gift of Java can help
Vital Ground
Does your morning coffee help grizzly
habitat conservation? Montana Coffee
Traders roasts a special Grizzly Blend
Coffee and donates $1 from each pound
sold to Vital Ground. Grizzly Blend is an
earthy, full-bodied, medium-roasted blend.
Sold by the pound, it is available in regular,
decaf and organic varieties and in whole
bean bags or one of several grinds.
Gift packs featuring Grizzly Blend make
wonderful seasonal treats. Each gift pack
includes a gift card that notes the support
of Vital Ground’s habitat conservation work:
• Grizzly Gift Bag – $12.00.
A 12-oz. bag of Grizzly Blend Coffee in festive wrapping with a huge chocolate
caramel bear paw.
• Vital Ground Gift Pack - $23.00.
Two 12-oz. bags of Grizzly Blend and a chocolate caramel bear paw. $6.50 from
the sale of each Vital Pack is donated to Vital Ground.
To purchase Grizzly Blend Coffee, visit the Montana Coffee Traders website at
www.coffeetraders.com or call them toll-free at 800-345-5282.
VITAL NEWS
14
FALL 2005
One of the most enduring ways to
make a gift to brown bear habitat
conservation is through your Will
or Living Trust. These gifts, usually
credited toward Vital Ground’s
endowment, provide continuing
support for the organization’s
mission. They can be given as
a Specific Bequest, Residuary
Bequest, or Contingent Bequest,
and can offer tax savings on your
estate. In considering such a gift, it
is important to engage a qualified
attorney to discuss your needs.
For more information, please call
or email us.
Memorials & tributes
In Memory of
Jane Johnson
B
oard and staff members of Vital
Ground offer deepest sympathy
to Mr. Keith Johnson, whose wife,
Jane Johnson, passed away in May
from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis,
or Lou Gehrig’s disease, which she
endured with courage, dignity and
grace. Keith is a long-time supporter of
Vital Ground, at both the corporate and
individual levels, and has participated
in our strategic planning sessions. He
initiated and funded our grant to the
Grizzly Bear Enforcement and Education Project (see page 11).
A loving wife and mother of two
boys, Jane was an active community
leader in San Diego, California. She
was a successful fundraiser and board
member for a variety of charitable
organizations, and was the recipient of
the Channel 10 Community Leadership
Award. Jane was especially dedicated
to improving the educational system
for students with dyslexia and other
learning conditions.
Keith is a former CEO of Fieldstone
Communities. The Fieldstone Foundation honored Jane by creating a match
opportunity for employees to join her
family in funding the construction of
six multi-sensory classrooms for medically fragile children, known as “Jane’s
Rooms.” Keith, their friends and many
of Jane’s “tennis buddies” have also
contributed over a half million dollars
for the Jane Johnson Tennis Center at
Cathedral High school to honor her.
Jane was a nationally ranked competitive tennis player.
We all wish Keith, his sons and other
family members strength in the months
ahead, and express our gratitude for the
legacy that Jane Johnson has left for
future generations.
In Memory of
Kim Williamson
K
im Williamson, 48, of Olathe,
Kansas passed away May 30,
2005. As a lasting memorial, Kim’s
family requested that donations be
made in her name to Vital Ground. Her
husband, Fred Williamson, shared these
thoughts with us:
“Kim was a pre-school teacher who
really encouraged young people to
understand, appreciate, and preserve
nature—from raising Monarch butterflies in her classroom for release into
the wild, to discussions around preserving the habitat of all animals. She came
to love the grizzly bear and “Bart” was
a natural avenue for what she believed
in once she found out about The Vital
Ground Foundation’s mission. Kim
always wanted to come and see the
bears, but her failing health made this
impossible. Kim developed an immune
problem and died of pneumonia and
asthma at the age of 48.
“Like most mothers, Kim was the
strength of our family. Even in her
declining health, she maintained a great
sense of humor and her support of her
family was un-wavering. Kim was
very passionate about her beliefs and
what she thought was the right thing to
do, such as supporting Vital Ground’s
mission. She loved the bears and
always wanted to observe grizzly bears
feeding in British Columbia.
“Financially, we were never able to
contribute to Vital Ground due to
medical expenses. So when Kim passed
away, we as family knew what she
would have wanted, so the memorial
to Vital Ground was established. We
have three children, Andrea (she got
the membership to Vital Ground for
her mother), Brian, and Carrie. We
are expecting our first grandchild on
October 3rd. All Kim ever wanted was
to be a grandmother and to move back
to Colorado to enjoy the lifestyle of
the area.”
VITAL NEWS
15
FALL 2005
We send our deepest condolences to
Kim’s family on their loss, and want to
express our gratitude for their memorial
gift, which will be invested in habitat
conservation for grizzlies and all things
wild.
Kim Williamson
Lasting Tribute
on a Special Day
W
e want to extend our gratitude
to Lindsay Gorham and Jeff
Thompson of Wenatchee, Washington, who put their hearts into bear
conservation when they tied the knot
this summer. Lindsay and Jeff asked
their friends to send a donation to Vital
Ground in lieu of wedding gifts. We are
honored and grateful for this generous
gift, and wish Lindsay and Jeff a long
and happy union!
If you would like to make a
donation to Vital Ground as a
tribute to a loved one,
please contact us at
info@vitalground.org,
or 406-549-8650.
A contribution to bear habitat
conservation is a gift that will
last for generations to come.
I
f a countryside can still support grizzlies, it will be good and whole
and rich and wild and free enough to support all the other
creatures struggling to hold on to a place in this world.
—Douglas H. Chadwick
Photo by Derek Reich
Upcoming Events:
October 7, 2005
Open House celebrating our move, Missoula, Montana
November/December 2005
Bart Memorial Campaign
May 13-19, 2006
5th Annual Wild Bear Adventure
Knight Inlet Lodge, British Columbia, Canada
August 11-13, 2006
Walk on Vital Ground
Rocky Mountain Front, Montana
Please visit our website or contact our office for details.
Vital News Editor: Christine Paige
Designed by: Double Click Design
Our new address:
Vital Ground
Bldg T-2 Fort Missoula Road
Missoula, MT 59804
406-549-8650
info@vitalground.org
www.vitalground.org
Please send all mailing address and
email address changes to us
at the above address.
Printed on recycled paper
© The Vital Ground Foundation
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BUILDING T -2, FORT MISSOULA ROAD
MISSOULA, MONTANA 59804
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• 15th Anniversary Special Section • Selkirk Conservation Initiative • Knight Inlet Adventure